Beth Mead leans back slightly in her seat, the wall behind her displaying iterations of the Arsenal crest through decades of change and says: \u201cIt\u2019s a tough club to walk away from.\u201d<\/p>\n
After a year of gossip, wondering and a summer of speculation, the transfer window has shut and Mead is heading, hungrier than ever, into her ninth full season at the club she joined at 21.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you\u2019ve been somewhere this long it holds a very precious place in your heart,\u201d she says. \u201cI have another year left on my contract, I still think I\u2019m more than good enough to compete and be able to play in this team and I know I bring something different.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mead is speaking two days out from Arsenal<\/a>\u2019s opening game of the season at the Emirates Stadium, where a record-breaking 17,000 season tickets and six-game bundle tickets have been sold. It is transfer deadline day and the midfielder Lia W\u00e4lti has announced her emotional departure.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m refusing to watch Wally\u2019s video; I\u2019m going to wait until I get home,\u201d says Mead. \u201cI saw her when she sat down at the start of it and I thought: \u2018I\u2019m not doing this.\u2019 On the day she told us she was leaving, I thought about what it would be like if I had to do that right now and it didn\u2019t sit right. The thought of leaving is really, really tough, and at some point in your career it\u2019s got to happen, but I\u2019ve had good conversations with Ren\u00e9e [Slegers, the head coach]. I know where I stand, what she wants from me and what I can give the team. I know I can also give a lot to the team off the pitch and I take that role and responsibility quite seriously.\u201d<\/p>\n Beth Mead has been at Arsenal since 2017. Photograph: David Price\/Arsenal FC\/Getty Images<\/p>\n It is just under two years since Mead returned after an anterior cruciate ligament injury which ended her 2023 World Cup hopes. The road since has not been easy but the forward appeared to find her pre-injury form for last season\u2019s run-in with Arsenal and the Euro 2025 campaign with England.<\/p>\n \u201cThere were moments where I think that my football brain and my footballing ability helped us in big moments in games,\u201d she says. \u201cI had a nice conversation with Sarina [Wiegman] after things had settled down following the Euros. Obviously, it was an amazing Euros, we went and won it<\/a>, but it was very different to the 2022 Euros where I started every game, was player of the tournament, this, that and the other.<\/p>\n \u201cShe said she\u2019d argue I\u2019d had as much of an effect this time; that, for her, as a manager, what she\u2019d seen me do on the pitch, the role I\u2019d played in crucial moments in certain games when I came on, was really important. I played different positions, I was playing midfield for quite a lot of the tournament, and she was like: \u2018I think some people will miss that because you didn\u2019t directly get the goal or the assist or whatever.\u2019 That gave me a really nice warm feeling because, as a footballer, and my teammates appreciate this too, sometimes externally these things are missed.\u201d<\/p>\n Mead says winning Euro 2025 was \u2018very different\u2019 to Euro 2022 because of her role in the England side. Photograph: Eurasia Sport Images\/Getty Images<\/p>\n As Mead talks, a mature understanding of the importance of a squad is evident. \u201cMe and Ren\u00e9e, and also the team, have a good understanding that it\u2019s a competitive environment. I\u2019m allowed to be pretty narked off that I\u2019m not playing but also I\u2019m going to come on and make that difference if that\u2019s my job for the weekend. That\u2019s elite-level football and you ultimately know that\u2019s what you\u2019ve sometimes got to do.\u201d<\/p>\n The significance of the non-starters in preparation for matchdays was shown before the 1-0 defeat of Barcelona<\/a> in the Champions League final in May, when roleplaying unlocked an important piece of Arsenal\u2019s strategy. In training the day before the final in Lisbon, the non-starters were tasked with playing the role of Barcelona.<\/p>\n \u201cI was [Cl\u00e0udia] Pina for Barcelona and, to put it politely, I was taking the piss out of our team,\u201d says Mead, with a grin. \u201cI was finding every bit of space, I was finding pockets, I was putting balls out, I was going forward.<\/p>\n \u201cIt wasn\u2019t just me \u2013 we were causing issues \u2013 but we had to do our jobs and I had to do my job as her that day to get the best out of the starting team. What we did in that training session changed our mindset going into the game.<\/p>\n \u201cHow successful I had been on that side of the pitch as Pina arguably helped us win that game and is why I felt so comfortable going into the Barcelona final. We knew we\u2019d ticked off everything, knew we\u2019d exploited Arsenal\u2019s weaknesses the day before and gone: \u2018Do you know what? Barcelona are going to have a field day there if we don\u2019t sort that out.\u2019 We sorted it out, we all committed to our roles and the rest is history.\u201d<\/p>\n Mead came off the bench, assisting the winner as Arsenal beat Barcelona in May\u2019s Champions League final. Photograph: David Price\/Arsenal FC\/Getty Images<\/p>\n Humility was key too. \u201cYou\u2019ve got to throw your ego aside as well,\u201d says Mead. \u201cWe are a team that wants to possess the ball, but you\u2019re playing Barcelona, who are very, very good at it. Same for England v Spain in the final of the Euros: you\u2019ve got to throw your ego out the window, be willing to work hard, defend, show that bit of grit and determination and I thought every single person, whether they started, whether they came on, whether they were on the bench giving the energy, committed to that in those finals. I think that\u2019s now our bar \u2013 it has to be.\u201d<\/p>\n skip past newsletter promotion<\/a><\/p>\n Sign up to Moving the Goalposts<\/p>\n No topic is too small or too big for us to cover as we deliver a twice-weekly roundup of the wonderful world of women\u2019s football<\/p>\n Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. If you do not have an account, we will create a guest account for you on theguardian.com<\/a> to send you this newsletter. You can complete full registration at any time. For more information about how we use your data see our Privacy Policy<\/a>. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy<\/a> and Terms of Service<\/a> apply.<\/p>\n after newsletter promotion<\/p>\n In the Champions League final, when the ball from Mariona Caldentey reaches her feet and she sees the gap open for the pass to set up Stina Blackstenius\u2019s winning goal, was it pure instinct?<\/p>\n \u201cI just got myself that pocket of space. I\u2019d seen in the game \u2013 this is a takeaway from being able to sit and watch games sometimes \u2013 how many blocked shots there had been. I know I\u2019ve hit the shots from there before on my left foot but I thought: \u2018There\u2019s a lot of bodies in front of me.\u2019 I don\u2019t know why and how I saw Stina in that space, but I thought: \u2018If I shoot here and it gets blocked, it\u2019s just another step for the game \u2026 I\u2019m going to find Stina.\u2019 It was a split second between choosing to shoot or take the pass. I\u2019m happy I took the pass.\u201d<\/p>\n The psychological impact of winning the competition \u201chas to have a big impact\u201d, with Chelsea\u2019s dominance weighing heavy domestically in recent years. \u201cWe can arguably play better football than Chelsea and we did a lot of times last season,\u201d says Mead. \u201cWhen we played against them, the first game, we went 2-0 down really early and absolutely dominated them the rest of the game but couldn\u2019t get back into it. Chelsea are good at what they\u2019re good at. They\u2019re lethal, they have their chances and they score their chances.<\/p>\n \u201cThey showed it last year, they went unbeaten, but how many games did they get 1-0 results right in the dying death? That\u2019s a champion team. We\u2019ve now got to adopt that. We play the Arsenal way, but also when it\u2019s not going perfectly we have to find another way we can win games. Barcelona was the perfect example for us.\u201d<\/p>\n Photograph: Linda Nylind\/The Guardian<\/p>\n